What is a directional tire?
Directional tires have a tread pattern designed to rotate in only one direction. When you look at such tires head on, the lateral voids and channels on the tread all point forward and down. The channels on both sides of the tread will run like two waterfalls joining from opposite sides, like this: ϒ
Do directional tires matter?
There’s no performance advantage to running directional tires “The wrong way” but as they wear, you can extend their life quite a bit by rotating them to different corners of the car. While you have the option of swapping tires front to back, often you’ll end up with a particular side that wears more.
What is the difference between directional and non-directional tires?
A directional tire is a tire that is designed to rotate in only one direction while non-directional tires are engineered to roll in either direction providing equal performance in all road conditions.
How are directional tires rotated?
Directional tires are designed and constructed so that they always rotate in the same direction due to their tread pattern. If your tires are directional, they should only be rotated from front to back (or vice-versa) on the same side of the vehicle.
What happens if I drive directional tires backwards?
A unidirectional tire has been designed to optimize its wet grip going in one direction. If you reverse the rotation, wet grip will suffer, braking distances will increase and you will lose cornering grip. Obviously the tires have worn unevenly, creating the buzz.
What is the difference between directional and non directional tires?
Do you need to rotate directional tires?
Just remember, “cross to drive”. Directional treads are designed to perform in the direction denoted on the tire sidewall only. They must always be rotated front to rear — no matter the vehicle they are installed on — so the direction of the rotation does not change.
What happens if you run directional tires backwards?
If you reverse the rotation, wet grip will suffer, braking distances will increase and you will lose cornering grip. Obviously the tires have worn unevenly, creating the buzz. If may be a good idea to have the alignment checked on the car and corrected if need be.